The London Metals Exchange (LME) announced in April 2018 that it would require all producers to comply with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals (in English), for all metals traded on the LME.

The General Assembly discussion focused on key outcomes of the survey by the BIAC Economic Policy Committee, OECD agenda on investment and responsible business conduct, update on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project and others.

“Business does still have concerns that some of the recommendations may lead to double taxation of income, and many important details remain to be worked out. We look forward to working with the OECD and G20 on those”, BIAC Tax Committee Chair Will Morris emphasized on the occasion of the release of the OECD’s 2015 BEPS deliverables package.

On July 1, 2015 China and the OECD signed a Medium-Term Vision Statement and a joint Programme of Work for 2015-2016. The Programme of Work foresees that China and the OECD will strengthen cooperation in 20 policy areas, ranging from macroeconomic management and structural reform to regulatory and public governance to green growth.

BIAC continues to support the G20 mandated Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, and has always sought to provide constructive and detailed input from the international business community across the full spectrum of OECD’s Action Items.

BIAC Business Climate Survey 2015 is released. The Survey for the BIAC national member and observer organizations was carried out by the BIAC Economic Policy Committee in March - April 2015. It examines business perspectives on what may be holding back investment and jobs, and their views on what can be done to remedy the situation.

OECD released two new reports on the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which emphasize that the SMEs are fundamental for inclusive growth and jobs, but they need to broaden their sources of finance in order to reduce their vulnerability to volatile credit market developments.

BIAC Development Task Force meeting was held on 31 March 2015 in Paris. The participants of the meeting discussed the Post-2015 Development Agenda, financing development and the OECD role, public-private dialogue for development, the OECD Development Cooperation Report 2016, the enabling environment for development, and the African Economic Outlook 2015.

BIAC, the Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC) presented a joint Business Statement to the OECD Southeast Asia Regional Forum held in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 25-26, 2015.

ONew joint BIAC and Deloitte report Putting ALL our ideas to work: Women and Entrepreneurship seeks to offer practical experience to OECD, governments, companies and women themselves in identifying best practices, addressing obstacles and implementing policies that will help unleash the potential for women’s entrepreneurship activities.

Addressing BIAC’s annual consultation with OECD Ambassadors BIAC’s Chair Phil O’Reilly pointed out that “considering the uneven recovery of OECD economies and serious imbalances in world markets, private sector-led growth has to be a top priority”.

The OECD is currently working on a report on Industry Self-Regulation. A revised draft of the report was discussed at the October 2014 Consumer Policy Committee (CPC) meeting and a final version was just circulated. An informal working group was set up and BIAC is participating in the review process.

According to a new paper, Business and Industry Advisory Committee`s to the OECD (BIAC) work in 2015 will cover such priority areas as: promoting inclusive growth; improving investment environment for growth and employment; supporting to OECD Project on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS); contributing to the OECD’s G20-focused work on financial markets; promoting OECD work to empower SMEs and allow them to contribute to growth and employment targets; contributing to new OECD projects in health sphere in particular to address the costly effects of chronic diseases.

Global FDI flows for 2014 have stalled at levels substantially below the peak levels reached before the financial crisis and ensuing global recession that began in 2008 according to preliminary estimates in the December 2014 issue of FDI in Figures.

The OECD Working Party on SMEs and Entrepreneurship (WPSMEE) in collaboration with BIAC organized the workshop on “Challenges for SME growth: Perspectives from the business sector” on October 22, 2014 in the OECD Headquarters, Paris.

The business community through BIAC is fully engaged in the OECD work on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). The OECD prepared the first set of BEPS consensus reports and recommendations on seven areas of the BEPS Action Plan. BIAC welcomed these recommendations but emphasized that the rules should not result in double taxation, unwarranted compliance burdens or restrictions to legitimate cross-border activity.

On the eve of the G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting to be held on September 10-11, 2014 in Melbourne (Australia) International Labour Organization (ILO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) released seven reports on employment.

The new OECD Employment Outlook outlines progress made in the struggle against unemployment. The OECD unemployment rate, which reached a historic 8.5% in October 2009, and which seemed stuck at 7.9% in 2011-2013, fell to 7.3% in June of this year. According to our projections, this average will decline slightly to 7.1% by the end of 2015. Nevertheless OECD average unemployment rate, even at 7.1%, is still well above the pre-crisis level of 5.6% (in 2007).

At the G20 Development Working Group`s (DWG) request the OECD is preparing the report on the impact of BEPS on low income countries and possibilities to implement the OECD/G20 BEPS Action Plan to address this impact.

BIAC Annual Report presents the views of business on the key issues of the OECD agenda. In his message to the report, Secretary-General of the OECD A. Gurría emphasized that “the role of business is paramount in battling the legacies of the crisis, in promoting sustainable, green growth and in unlocking the opportunities for much needed job creation”, so the dialogue with the business community is crucial.

The BIAC members welcome the international taxation framework review and BEPS Action Plan implementation. They actively participate in consultations with the OECD and governments oсf the member-countries. On 29 October 2014 the BIAC Tax Committee will meet in Paris to discuss BEPS.

On June 21 in the framework of the B20 Summit in Saint-Petersburg the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and RSPP co-hosted a discussion on the topic “What Needs to be Done to Prevent Another Crisis and Generate Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth?”.

On 2 and 3 June 2014 the US Council for International Business (USCIB) in cooperation with the OECD and Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC) held its ninth annual global tax conference.